简体中文
Political leaders on both sides of the aisle are criticizingDonald Trumpafter the billionaire businessman turned presidential nominee refused to release his tax returns until after the election.
Trump, who is currently undergoing an audit,told the Associated Pressthat he would likely not release his tax returns before November, believing that voters would not be interested in his filings. “There’s nothing to learn from them,” said Trump, who had refused to release his tax returnsearlier in the election cycleafter his opponents had done so.
Almost immediately, his presidential-nominee predecessorMitt Romneyslammed Trump’s decision in a Facebook post. “It is disqualifying for a modern-day presidential nominee to refuse to release tax returns to the voters, especially one who has not been subject to public scrutiny in either military or public service,” he wrote, saying that there was absolutely no reason that someone being audited would be unable to release his tax returns. (Romney, who refuses to endorse Trump, had released both his 2010 and his 2011 tax returns before the 2012 election. There is a long precedent of every presidential nominee releasing at least some past returns to the public.)
“There is only one logical explanation for Mr. Trump’s refusal to release his returns: there is a bombshell in them,” Romney concluded. “Given Mr. Trump’s equanimity with other flaws in his history, we can only assume it’s a bombshell of unusual size.”
Over at Bloomberg View,Timothy L. O’Brienrevealed what he could about Trump’s previous tax returns, having seen unredacted versions of them during a lawsuit that Trump filed against him nearly a decade ago. In short, Trump could be hiding a number of things that would deflate the image of a successful billionaire who cared deeply about keeping jobs in America and giving back to the needy: a smaller fortune than he claims, a bigger overseas operation than he’s stated, the possibility that he’s keeping his money in offshore tax havens, and a lack of charitable giving. Such facts could severely damage his reputation among his supporters.
Trump’s reticence played directly into the hands ofHillary Clinton,whomocked himduring a rally on Wednesday. “When you’re running for president and you become the nominee, that’s kind of expected,” she said, citing decades of presidential candidates releasing their tax returns, including herself and her husband,Bill Clinton.“So you’ve got to ask yourself, why doesn’t he want to release them? Yeah, well, we’re going to find out.”
If Trump refuses to release his returns, it could be the perfect attack line for Clinton, who herself is under scrutiny for keeping controversial things secret, like e-mail servers in Chappaqua. Trump, likely aware of this,flipped his position in a number of hours, saying that he might release his tax returns once the audit against him was complete, but cited his lawyers’ advice as a reason not to do so now. He added that he still did not believe people would find them interesting. At this point in the Trump campaign narrative, this means nothing: there is no legal reason that Trump cannot release his returns if he is being audited.
Back in 2011, Trumpreneged on a promiseto make his tax returns public ifPresident Barack Obamareleased his long-form birth certificate, and after Obama did, said that he would do so “at the appropriate time.” In February 2015, before he declared his candidacy, Trumptold conservative radio host Hugh Hewittthat he would release his returns, but avoided giving any further details about how or when.
This is the second tax-related scandal to hit Trumpthis week: on Sunday and Monday, critics piled on him for seeminglychanging positions on raising taxes for the wealthy, after the presumptive G.O.P. nominee first said he would, and then that he wouldn’t, before finally clarifying that any increases would be relative to his own tax plan, which would itself be a decrease, but that any such proposal would simply be the opening bid in a long negotiation the master deal-maker expects to have with Congress. As to whether or not he’ll release his tax returns, Donald Trump prefers to give at least three different answers to each question, and then surprise us. He’s just a maverick that way.
Donald Trump’s Short Fingers: A Historical Analysis
“O.K., you, in the third row… Yes, you… I’m calling on you… Yes, that’s why I’m pointing… I’m pointing with my finger… My FINGER. This one… Why would you think I’m holding up a cocktail frank?”
By Justin Lane/EPA/Corbis.
In Iowa last January, Trump regales voters with a humanizing personal anecdote about how he once bit his right index finger after mistaking it for a half-eaten French fry.
By Jerry Mennenga/ZUMA Press/Corbis.
A wax figure of “Duke” Wayne looks on in disgust as Trump strains to reach his fingers all the way around daughter Aissa Wayne’s frankly rather petite shoulder. (Fun fact: you could load the barrel of Wayne’s pistol with 14 of Trump’s pinkies.)
By Tannen Maury/EPA/Corbis.
As Trump talks straight through a lunch-hour town hall in February, hungry New Hampshire voters appear mesmerized by the five chicken-tender-like appendages radiating from his sausage-patty-size palm.
From The Washington Post/Getty Images.
Greeting voters in Iowa City, Trump surreptitiously compares his hand to a baby’s, a smile of satisfaction and relief slowly spreading across his face.
From Bloomberg/Getty Images.
At the 1990 grand opening of the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, wee hands try to summon a genie from a giant lamp. “It’s the motion,” Trump gamely jokes.
By Ron Galella/Getty Images.
At a recent G.O.P. debate in Las Vegas, Trump’s “fun-size” grip fails to circumnavigate Chris Christie’s big, beefy palm. Trump attempts to regain alpha-male status by showing the New Jersey governor his impression of a Doberman pinscher wagging its docked tail.
By Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images.
An interesting optical illusion: Trump’s left hand is actually in the foreground of the picture!
By Chris Cassidy/Getty Images.
More ugly politics in South Carolina: Trump is forced to refute rumors, traced back to the Cruz campaign, that his fingers aren’t long enough for Christian prayer.
By Andrew Cowan/Scottish Parliament/Getty Images.
Trump pretends to enjoy a pork chop on a stick at the 2015 Iowa State Fair, probably the one place on Earth where people won’t mistake a pork chop on a stick for Trump’s third hand.
By Win McNamee/Getty Images.
In costume with actress Megan Mullally at the 2005 Emmys, Trump wows an audience of hardened entertainment professionals by wrapping his fingers nearly all the way around a pitchfork.
By Mathew Imaging/FilmMagic/Getty Images.
Some pundits have attributed candidate Trump’s hawkishness to the fact that, even though his fingers have as many joints as a normal man’s, they remain at least an inch short of being able to form a proper peace sign.
From The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images.
Nothing much to say about the fingers in this picture; just curious why Trump’s “anus mouth” face hasn’t also become a thing.
From CNBC/Getty Images.
To this day, clubhouse attendants maintain that Trump had to be outfitted with a Babe Ruth Jr. Youth League glove for this 1991 appearance at Yankee Stadium.
From the Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images.
At this 2005 gala, Trump, thinking quickly, uses both hands to keep wife Melania from getting a good look at the size of a single Puff Daddy hand.
By Johnny Nunez/WireImage/Getty Images.
Trump’s delicate right hand is nearly crushed by his nine-year-old daughter Ivanka’s huge, burly mitt at a 1991 event.
From The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images.
Presented without comment.
By Scott Olson/Getty Images.
(VANITY FAIR)
